Malala discharged from hospital, father vows to return home after full recovery

Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year old Pakistani activist shot in the head by the Taliban, has been discharged from a hospital in the UK after making “excellent progress” in her recovery.

Malala will be staying with her family’s temporary home in near Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England before undergoing reconstructive surgery on her skull, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham said in a statement on Friday.

The surgery will involve replacing pieces of her skull, which was damaged after Taliban gunmen shot her in the head, with either her own bone or a titanium plate. The bullet grazed her brain, traveling through her head and neck before lodging in her left shoulder, according to AFP.

She was flown to the hospital in Birmingham days after the attack which had provoked global condemnation. Since then, Malala has regained her strength and can read and speak.

Hospital authorities cited patient confidentiality when asked whether she is well enough to continue her eduation in Britain, AP reports.

Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala’s father, has accepted a three-year post as education attache at Pakistan’s consulate in Birmingham, suggesting that the family will remain in the UK for a while, but he has vowed to return to Pakistan with his family once Malala fully recovers.

“What I am doing here is all temporary, and God willing we all will return to our homeland, he told AP.

Pakistan decided to rename a college in her honor but Malala urged against the decision, saying that it might provoke militant attacks on students.